do as secretary will also benefit you financially down the line. >> i will comply with all of the ethical guidelines. >> that's not the question. you have said -- >> you are asking more -- senator, you are asking me not to sue vaccine pharmaceutical companies. >> i am not. >> that's exactly what you are doing. >> look, no one should be fooled here. as secretary of hhs robert kennedy will have the power to under cut vaccines and vaccine manufacturing across our country. and for all of his talk about follow the science and his promise that he won't interfere with those of us who want to vaccinate his kids the bottom line is the same. kids might die, but robert kennedy can keep cashing in.

>> senator, i support vaccines. i support the childhood sch schedule. by will do that. the only thing i want is good science, and that's it. >> how about saying you will not make money off of what you do as secretary of hhs? >> before we go to senator tillis, it would be important for me to make clear that mr. kennedy has gone through the same office of government ethics process as every other nominee in the finance committee, this year and in previous administrations. in addition to listing his assets, including items you have identified, he has signed an ethics letter that has been reviewed by the office of government ethics, concerning any possible conflict in light of its functions and the nominee's proposed duties. we have a letter from the office of government ethics that he has complied completely with all applicable laws and regulations

governing conflict of interest. >> mr. chairman, point of information here. have we had a single nominee come through who has made $2.5 million off suing one of the entities that it would be regulating, and plans to keep getting a take of every lawsuit in the future? have we had that before? >> i have not reviewed the past documentation of every other nominee's financial interests, so no. i know that every time we get a nominee, their financial interests are attacked. that's why we have the office of government ethics. that's why they have reviewed everything in this record, and that's why he has, i think, and i don't know that i would want to ask him to get into it, but he has listed his assets, has gone through a discussion of the responsibilities under our ethics laws and has complied with all of those requirements.

senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. kennedy, how was your morning going? >> so far, so good. >> you came prepared and i'm glad that you did. i believe you addressed, to my satisfaction, a question about title x and the president's priority with respect to planned parenthood. can you just affirm that you are 100% behind the president's policy on title x? >> i am 100% behind it. thank you. >> you, it's amazing to me that people, well first off, you need to understand i was at a judiciary hearing this morning. it is very clear to me that some of these nominations will be shirts and skins. no matter what you answer under the affirmative they will ask you one more question so you won't be able to answer in the affirmative. that's the way the game is played when we have nominees like yourself. i think you are handling yourself well. i got a real quick question for

you. are you a conspiracy theorist? >> that's a pejorative, senator. that's applied to me mainly to keep me from asking difficult questions. i was told that i was a conspiracy theorist. that label is applied to me because i said that the vaccines, the covid vaccine didn't prevent transmission and wouldn't prevent infection. when the government was telling people, americans, that it would. i was saying that because i was looking at the monkey studies in may of 2020. i was called a conspiracy -- and now everybody admits it. i was called a conspiracy theorist because i said that red dye cause cancer, and all the fda has acknowledged it and banned it. i was called a conspiracy theorist because i said fluoride lowered iq. as we published -- eight review of 87 studies, saying that there

is a direct correlation between iq loss -- speak i will assume -- >> i could go on. >> are there any number where you say "i got me, that was a conspiracy theory," or are you in a position to submit for the record -- it would be helpful for everyone of the narratives for you to maybe submit that for the record. you said something about snap lunch. i was at the statehouse in north carolina before i came here. anytime i visited an elementary school, the first thing i would do is go to the trash cans in the cafeteria. all what we have now our kids that are not eating the food because they dictate to the federal government and made something they don't want. they say it's a healthy alternative it has processed materials in it so they throw it away. trash cans full of food the kids didn't eat so what they do they eat a snack.

everything you have said about the snap program i agree with willie should be strict with it. manufacturing segment produced healthy foods that we can put in the snap program. we also need to look at the school health program i was pta president 21-22 years ago at my daughter's high school. i feel like we got these kids who need help. we got to help guide them through a process. many of them are on medicaid and medicaid -- everybody here says medicaid is sacrosanct. nobody has admitted that medicaid is not producing positive health outcomes. is that your problem with medicaid right now: the program or the outcomes? the outcomes, we are spending -- >> the outcomes, we are spending $900 billion and people are getting sicker every year. president trump wants people, americans to have high-quality insurance. >> everybody building a case for the status quo of medicaid, is

by extension saying that they are happy with the outcomes. i think it's unacceptable. i have a question for you on project work speed. we supported this act, had 97 people on the u.s. senate vote for it. there is only one member of congress who voted against it, i believe. project work speed had at cdc, nih and -- very much in the mix. some people think you will come in here and insert yourself into those agencies in a way that's never been done before. let's say that they are part of a future project work speed. is it your intent to go in and do something that has never been done before, based on my staff's research, and insert yourself in a discussion that scientists are dealing with in those different agencies? >> no, senator. what i want to do is -- i'm not a scientist. i want to empower scientists. i want to make sure that science is unobstructed.

i will just say about operation work speed, it was an extraordinary compliment, it showed a demonstration of leadership by president trump. when he promoted operation work speed, he was looking at the different remedies, including vaccines. >> therapeutics, everything appeared. >> and he was not looking at shutting down our country for the year, forcing people to wear masks for a year. forcing that social distancing that did not have any scientific basis, which dr. fauci has now acknowledged. he said "we took it out of thin air." all of those changed during the biden administration, and it became very narrowly focused. we ended up with the highest death account of any country in the world. >> if i could just ask one final question. i think it's a one-word answer. i've heard a lot of people

complaining about health care delivery, medicaid, on the other side of the dais. who has been responsible for health care policies over the last four years? >> the biden -- >> i mean the president? okay. an acknowledgment that you are inheriting a problem that needs to be fixed. thank you. >> thank you, senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. kennedy, thank you for being with us. i very much like the slogan that you coined, make america healthy again. i strongly agree with that effort. despite spending, as you indicated, two or three times pretty much -- per capita as much as other nations. we have people who are uninsured, underinsured.

we have chronic illnesses. life expectancy is lower than other countries, and for working-class people people in this country, they live 6-7 years of shorter lives than the top 1%. we've got a problem. i'm going to suggest some ideas that i think could remedy that. last year, the insurance industry in this country made over $70 billion, while at the same time, 85 million americans uninsured or underinsured. do you agree with me that the united states should join every other major country on earth and guaranty health care to all people, as a human right? yes, no? >> senator, i can't give you a "yes" or "no" answer. >> as a human right, is health care human right? >> in the way that free speech as a human right, i would say

it's different, because free speech doesn't cost anybody anything, but in health care, if you smoke cigarettes for 20 years, and you get cancer, you are now taking from the pool. are you guaranteed the same rate -- >> i'm sorry. i would love to talk for an hour with you but we only have a few minutes left. every other country on earth says health care, whether you are poor or rich, young or old, it's a human right. i'm not hearing you say that. you've talked about the drug companies and maybe we agree on this one. as you know, despite the drug companies making over $100 billion in profits, paying ceos outrageous compensation, packages. we have some cases where they pay ten times more for the same drug. will you support legislation but i will introduce, which says that in america, we should not be paying a nickel more for prescription drugs than people around the rest of the world? yes or no?

>> to equalize it? >> not to equalize it. that we should not be paying more than other countries for the same damn drug. >> president trump has asked me, in fact, i had a meeting with president trump a week ago where we showed him the charts. >> he knows the charts. my question is -- >> we pay ten times more than europe. >> that's right. are you going to commit to us that you will end that asserted to? >> in principle, we can, we should end that disparity. >> that's right. i happen to believe that climate change is real, it's an existential threat, and it's a health care issue. donald trump thanks it is a hoax originating in china. the question is, in your judgment, is climate change a hoax, or is it real, causing devastate problems? >> president trump and i from

our first meeting agree to disagree on that issue. i believe -- my job is to make american's healthy again. >> so you disagree with trump, you don't think climate change is a hoax is what i'm hearing. >> my job here -- >> i'm just asking. >> i answered your question, senator. >> okay, you disagree with the president. >> answered your question. >> [laughs] okay. i will pick up on a point that the senator made. there is no question that abortion is a divisive issue in this country. i would say a majority of the people are pro choice. there is a strong minority who are pro-life. a year and a half ago you went to new hampshire, running for president. gave a speech. you talked about government should not tell a woman what she can do with her own body: that's her choice. i think everybody on that side

is pro-life and i think every buddy here is pro-choice. i've never seen any major politician flip on that issue quite as quickly as you did when trump asked you to become hhs secretary. tell me why you think people should have confidence in your consistency and in your work when you made a major u-turn on an issue about importance -- in such an issue of time. >> senator, i believe, and i have always believed that abortion is a tragedy. >> but you told the people of new hampshire that it was their right. let me do a last question because i'm running out of time. i think the gist of what you are trying to say today is you are pro-vaccine -- when i asked questions. you have started a group called the children's health defense. you are the originator. right now, as i understand, on their website, they are selling

little things, clothing for babies. one of them is -- this one sold for my $26 a piece. the next one is no vaccination, no problem. now, you are coming before this committee, and you say you are pro-vaccine. i want to ask some questions. yes, your organization is making money selling a child's product to parents for $26 which casts a fundamental doubt on the usefulness of vaccines. can you tell us now that you will, now that you are pro-vaccine, that you're going to have your organization take these products off the market. >> senator, i have no power over that organization. i resigned from the board. >> for that was a few months ago. you founded it and you certainly have power. are you supportive of this? >> i have had nothing to do with

it. >> are you supportive of this? >> i am supportive of vaccines. >> are you supportive of this clothing which is anti-vaccine? >> i am supportive of vaccines. i want good science and i want to protect -- >> but you will not tell the organization you found dead not to continue selling that product. thank you mr. chairman. >> senator blackburn. >> thank you, mr. chairman, and thank you so much for being with us today. i have no doubt that you will be confirmed, and you are going to do such a solid job for the people of this country. [applause] i do have several issues that i wanted to talk with you about. shouldn't have time to cover them all when we met prior to the meeting, but real health care is very important to me, and the people of tennessee. 78 of our 95 counties are rural

counties. over the last few years, we have seen hospital closures, so we have focused on access in rural areas. my rural health agenda, which is bipartisan, focuses on innovation, telehealth, access point. it focuses on work shortages, and also, senator warner and i have together focused on making certain that we address that area wage index and do that fairly for our citizens that are in rural communities. i would like a commitment from you that when confirmed, you and your cms administrator will work with us to make certain that the area wage index is balanced and fair to rural areas. >> senator, both dr. oz and myself recognize that rural health care is a crisis in this

country, and that is catastrophic for our entire country. i talked a little bit about my commitment to rural health earlier in this hearing. the regional price points, as you know, are set by congress. and not by hhs. >> cms. >> i know myself -- and dr. oz will work with you to make them sensible. >> we look forward to that. also, you and i, before you came forward as the secretary, the nominee, we had talked in years past about over medicating youth, and concerns over that. i was looking at a report from our medicaid program in tennessee. i was concerned when i saw a number that they had spent $90 million in 2024 alone on adhd. this was 417,000 of our chi

children. to me, that's heartbreaking what is happening there. how will you prioritize oversight of prescribing practices while promoting alternative solutions, such as counseling, behavioral therapies, community-based interventions for our youth? >> exactly. that's a solution. 15% of american youth are now on adderall or some other adhd medication. even higher percentages are on ssris, benzos. we are not just over medicating our children: we are over medicating our entire population. half of the pharmaceutical drugs on earth are sold here. 70% of the profits from pharmaceutical companies are from the united states, even though we only have 4.2% of the worlds population. not only that, but a recent

study by it -- found that pharmaceutical drugs are the third largest cause of death in our country after heart attacks and cancers. day are not making us healthier. we need community health initiatives. we need access to treatment. we need exercise. we need better food. >> let me talk to you about one of those access points in treatment. this highlights a problem we have in the federal medicaid l law. since medicaid's enactment, states have been prohibited from using medicaid funds for care provided by institutions for mental disease. we refer to them as i mds. with these are psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment facilities with more than 16 beds. this is a discriminatory exclusion. it denies payment for medically necessary care, based on the

illness that's being treated. it has perpetuated unequal coverage and mental health care. if you are confirmed, when you are confirmed, will you commit to working with me on repealing this discriminatory exclusion, and ensuring equal access to mental health care for medicaid beneficiaries? >> yes, senator. >> thank you so much. i have a question on pbm reform, one on artificial intelligence and health care. in the interest of time, i will yield back. i look forward to seeing you help make us healthy again. >> thank you, senator. [applause] >> senator. >> no, you are next. >> excuse me.

i made a mistake. senator cantwell. >> thank you, mr. chairman. congratulations on your nomination, mr. kennedy. i have an absence only because i have been in another hearing with a nominee to be the commerce secretary. i will review everything that you said today and look at that diligently. one of the things i wanted to discuss with you as i represent an innovation state. innovation in health care specifically. innovation like nih funding to the fred hodge cancer center, which helped to develop the hpv vaccine, which has the potential to eliminate over 95% of cervical cancer. nih also funds a lot of jobs and grants nearly 11,000 people in the state of washington and over $1.2 billion worth of grants. while i agree with you on healthy foods, i definitely am troubled by the medical research

side of innovation. and some of the things you have said. in fact, this issue about laying off 600 employees at nih, or two quotes, give infectious disease a break for 8 years. we have had a chance to talk about this a little bit. the most striking example of this is when covid hit. we were the first in the nation. we had the first case. it really was the fast response by the university of washington that really help save lives. i just want to know, are you aware of how harmful these issues could be for public health? public health could be affected by these antiscience views? senator , -- >> senator, i have always been a

pro-science person. i believe in evidence-based medicine and gold standard science. i have a sling is before you came in. 600 people out of work force of 91,000 is typical. last year alone, president biden replaced 3,000 people at hhs, and 700 at -- i want to say this. i said give infectious disease a break, because that has been the principal preoccupation. infectious disease, chronic disease is, accounts for 92% of deaths in this country, and almost nothing is studied at nah on the ideology of our chronic disease epidemic. it's going to infectious disease. >> it is an interesting point, but the problem is, we had to respond. it is actually the gates foundation and this cohorts that figured out what was wrong, and

that we had an outbreak of covid that was going beyond the very first case, so we had to build a fast response. i take this to the university of washington that has conducted groundbreaking stem cell research on fetal tissue. to me, i know there's probably a lot of people that might not agree with this, but we are making regenerative heart tissue now at the university of washington. so yes or no, do you commit to protecting stem cell research for scientific agencies, if conference? >> i will protect stem cell research. i -- stem cell research today, on umbilical cords, and that she don't need fetal tissue. >> you will protect the laws on the books today in the research that is done? >> my job is to enforce the l laws. >> okay. i want to move to p pbms, driving up prices. one of the biggest things we need to do, i think, in the new administration, is get a handle

on everything driving up prices and lower them. the report found that pbms generated $1.4 billion from spread pricing. that is where they are able to basically set the price, not reimburse pharmacies, and then pocket the rest. we have had bipartisan legislation in several different committees to get at this. what do you think the solution is? >> i think one of the really notable achievements of this panel was that pbm legislation that they put together in a bipartisan way. i haven't met a single senator -- well, one only, of the 60-odd senators. all of them talk about pbms and how important it was. president trump during his first administration pushed through a law, pushed a law to give transparency to pbms. it got overruled during the

biden administration. luckily, this panel is resuscitating that. president trump is committed to fixing pbms. >> my time is running out, so i want to clarify: you believe we should pass these laws that have been proposed? >> i have not let the entire law -- >> i have not read the entire law, but i do think we need to reform the pbms. all these vested interests draining money from the system. >> somebody suggested that you thought, you think we should convene the pbms. people -- you are basically doing illegal activities and creating pharmacy deserts in my state. i'm asking you whether you believe that we have to legislate in this area. >> i am not being evasive, i just don't know exactly what the law says. i met with the pbms.

you want to hear from the other side. it does not mean that i would let the pbms right there and take it. president trump wants to get the excess profits away from the pbms, primary care to patients in this country. >> i'll ask you for the record because my time is expired, the legislation that came out of the commerce committee that defines the illegal activities they are doing to drive up prices. thank you mr. chairman. >> in principle, i support that legislation. >> thank you. let me just tell you, a list, as we have to move forward to the ending here. this senator will be next.

>> this is of utmost importance. i know that i have some questions. >> senator, as i've indicated, i'm not going to do a second round. i've been very generous with almost every single senator i think who has had 7 minutes at least. i will give you -- like mike high. >> i will divide my time with my colleagues. >> okay. you are welcome to do that. senator. >> thank you, mr. chairman. mr. kennedy, when we met, you stayed to me that is not your goal to take away programs that

work for americans. do you stand by that statement? >> yes, senator. >> do you know how many americans rely on medicaid? >> about 72 million, plus the 7 million kids on -- >> appreciate that. 72 million. yes or no, it is important that expected mothers and newborns have access to health coverage? is it important that expectant mothers and newborns have access to health coverage? >> absolutely, senator. >> do you know how many babies born in this country are covered through medicaid? >> i would guess -- i don't know the answer. i would guess 30 million. >> i have it. about 41%, 1.4 million babies births are financed by medicaid,

according to the national center for health statistics. yes or no, do you believe medicaid is a critical program? >> i believe that medicaid is a critical program but it's not working as well as it ought to be. prison term -- asked me to make it work better. most americans are not happy with it. the premiums are too high. the deductibles are too high. everybody is getting sicker. too much money is going to the insurance industry. >> i have a series of yes or no questions. it might surprise you if you look at some of the surveys in mexico, the response was 90% of new mexicans on medicaid rep

report -- 83% are satisfied getting care. 85% are satisfied getting specialized care. 82% getting urgent care. i can go on state-by-state but we do not have the time today. >> president trump has told me to make medicaid better. >> do you support cutting, yes or no? let me ask you this. >> i support making it better, senator. >> if president trump asked you to cut medicaid, would you? >> it's not up to me to cut medicaid. it would be up to congress.

>> mr. kennedy, you don't want to answer, i will move on. do you know how many states -- mr. chairman, if i may pause my time. i understand that people are getting asked to leave if they stand up with signs, but there is a lot of other as well, mr. chairman. it needs to be extended to everyone. as mr. kennedy said, we should respect each other when we have a difference of opinion. we are just trying to do our jobs and ask questions. that's all i'm doing the mr. kennedy, folks. >> senator, you are right. i asked the audience to please be respectful. >> thank you mr. chairman. i appreciate that. mr. kennedy, do you know how many states will and make their medicaid expansion if the federal share medicaid drops? >> there's 40 states that have signed on to expansion, so -- >> it's a smaller number. nine states would quickly have to end their expansion because of the laws they have.

that's about 4 million folks across the country. triggers that would immed immediately -- if it gets cut. the reason i'm asking those questions is because there has been a lot of conversations around medicaid. i agree we can always do better and we must do better in america. medicaid has been shown to improve how outcomes, including quality-of-life and access and access to preventative care as well -- there are some areas that you and i touched on specifically to native american communities. one of the concerns i have -- these matter to folks. shared your passion about caring for folks. i believed that passion. my question in this area is as you know, folks are doing research and will check to see if medicine works on someone.

if they are not included in that trial, it often doesn't help them. programs -- eliminated to require the inclusion -- clinical trials when it comes to life-saving medicine. >> i'm going to do everything i can to make sure native americans are in clinical trials. as i said to you, when i visit your office, i spend 20% of my career working on native issues. my family has been deeply involved with them. my father and uncle were big critics of the indian health service -- i am going to bring a native in for the first time in history into my central office, that all of the major decisions in my office will be, that he

will have -- and already interviewed a candidate a very good candidate -- will have a direct impact on all of the major offices. one of my priorities is to -- >> appreciate that. i will follow up on that space specifically. will you commit to finalizing the congressionally mandated fda guidance to increase clinical trial diversity? >> repeat that again. i'm sorry. >> will you commit to finalizing the congressionally mandated fda guidance to increasing clinical trial diversity? >> yes. >> i appreciate that. will you commit to reinstating all of the pages that were eliminated, and people that were fired from this administration that have this responsibility? >> i can't commit to that because i don't know who they are. i will commit to working with you to make sure -- that they are adequately staffed. >> i will follow-up in writing in those specific areas. i think there's commonality here.

answers matter. i would like to get those as timely as possible. the last thing, mr. chairman, that i will say, is one of the conversations i had last before this hearing was with the family that i had been working with to work with my republican colleagues when it comes to autism and federal programs. and making a difference in these families lives, this little girl's life. what i am asking now, mr. chairman, is unanimous consent to enter into the record an article from autism speaks titled "do vaccines cause autism?" i will note that the first sentence states "vaccines do not cause autism." >> before we move on, we have had a request from several quarters for a quick restroom break. we will take a five minute recess. i am sorry to those remaining five or six senators. you must wait a few minutes, but we will have a quick break.

we will be back as soon as we can. [applause] >> a lot of cheers on the way out of robert f. kennedy jr.'s confirmation hearing. that is of course trump's pick to lead health and human services. some pretty intense questioning, mostly from democrats but some republicans as well curious about his abortion views. they pressed him on his make america healthy again -- something that has gotten a ton of notoriety on the campaign trail and beyond. they asked him about his previous statement on vaccines and the current state of america's health care system. he had a very interesting quote. "a healthy person has a thousand dreams. a sick person has only one." he has a clear mission, he said. he gets on his knees and praise every night for the last 20 years that god will give him a chance to cure our children,

america's children, of the chronic epidemic of disease, and he may in fact get that chance. we are watching this closely. this is "outnumbered." i'm kayleigh mcenany with my cohost harris faulkner and emily come on you'll. also joining us, ainsley earhardt, "fox & friends" cohosts -- and former white house press secretary. it's been fascinating. some of the questions. one was about climate change, another bout taking fees, if he sued drug companies. there were contentious moments, but also some interesting ones. this movement has gotten rapid notoriety from young moms in america, from parents. i was fascinated in particular when he said -- because i've heard from parents -- "i don't know anyone with peanut allergies growing up," and now he said all five of his children have allergies. >> if you look specifically -- look, my kids i vaccines, i just want there to be a choice. he really has infused this idea of making information accessible, of making as much

healthy food accessible. he said "my boss eats mcdonald's," obviously meaning donald trump. he wants people to be able to make some choices that are better for themselves. they can't do that without an infusion of making sure foods are safe, pesticides, all that. when i was growing up, and i'm older than you are, obviously -- i didn't know anybody with these kinds of allergies. >> i totally get what he is saying what i think is interesting is his ability to navigate some of those more liberal issues that don't really have anything to do with what his job would be at hhs. they are trying to show that he's purely a democrat. when i have interviewed him, he has told me he's a democrat. i don't think anybody should be shocked about that. it is natural for republicans to want to know where he stands when he said abortions with no restrictions. did he mean it that you? what does he mean now? how to make that divide? what has changed? so on and so forth. this is critical. this is round one, though. round two will be on friday, the

second confirmation hearing. this is just getting it started. >> ironically, there was a headline made five days before trump was inaugurated. it caught my attention as a mother, i'm sure it caught yours, and i a kind of sums up what he is talking about, gives credence to it. foxnews.com. fda bans red food dye due to potential cancer risk. i know you probably heard about this. >> we talked about fox and friends. it was right for the inauguration. even though rfk was the one supporting trump saying he wanted to do this all along. i was thrilled to hear that because he talks about the froot loops and the dies that are in it, and it's not in the cereal in europe. he talked about mcdonald's. when he was growing up, like in england, there were three ingredients in their french fries: the potato, basalt, the tele- fat -- and he says now we have 17 ingredients in a french fries and mcdonald's. he says he wants to get rid of that and just have three like it used to be when we were all

growing up. donald trump loves mcdonald's, loves those foods. i'm sure he would be thrilled to hear that and so would every little child who gets the happy meal or the mother would be happy to hear that. it was interesting. did you hear the hecklers? i was studying for the show. there were those hecklers. he said "i'm not anti-vaccine," and someone yelled "yes you are," and they took her out. he said "my kids were vaccinated." that was interesting. another lady was tackled and taken out as well. i like that he is going to clean it all up and educate us. even if you do choose to eat the fast food before you can clean it up, at least you know what's in it. i didn't know that there were 17 ingredients in our french fries before. >> it was funny -- present from pete mcdonald's. probably good call not to go on a crusade against something your boss loves. >> he's not the only one. i get an inordinate amount of ten piece's of those nuggets. >> not trying to pull a mayor bloomberg with the sodas. interestingly, the vaccines kept coming up. he had this moment where he said "were being dishonest.

i have clarified my views." he had a similar exchange with several other senators including senator warren. watch. >> let's do a quick count of how as secretary of hhs, if you get confirmed, you could influence every one of those lawsuits. will sort the list. you can publish your anti-vaccine conspiracies, but this time on a u.s. government letter had letterhead, something a jury might be impressed by -- vaccine panel who share your anti-vaccine views and let them do your dirty work. you can tell the cdc vaccine panel to remove a particular vaccine from the vaccine schedule. you could remove vaccines from special complication programs, which would open up manufacturers to mass -- you could make more injuries eligible for compensation, even if there is no causal evidence. you could change vaccine core processes to make it easier to

bring junk lawsuits. you could turn over fda data to your friends at the law firm, and they could use it however it benefited them. you could change vaccine labeling. you could change vaccine information rules. you could change which claims are compensated in the vaccine injury compensation program. >> as a quick bathroom break, they are back. the confirmation hearing for mike robert of canada jr. for hhs secretary resumes now -- >> the confirmation hearing of robert f. kennedy jr. for hhs secretary continues now. >> you know many times i've heard that, any three of those? i don't know if we have lost the forest through the trees. vaccine is a critical issue. i understand that. i don't see how mr. kennedy's position could be any more clear that he will support the vaccines, the science, empowerment to parents and their doctors to make these choices. 60% of americans have a chronic disease.

there is an epidemic of chronic diseases across the country. this make america healthy again movement is palpable to me. it started on the campaign trail in 2020, when moms i had never met that were never involved in the political process came up to me and said "look, i want to make these choices about -- children now -- why are they on a prescription drug?" mr. kennedy, what is your prescription to help make america healthy again. what is your vision? what does that look like to you? >> thank you, senator. we are having epidemics of all these chronic illnesses. autoimmune diseases. neurological diseases. allergic diseases.

obesity. -- when my uncle was president, 3% of americans were obese. today, 70% of americans are obese or overweight. no other country has anything like this. in japan, the obesity rate is still 3%. epidemics are not caused by genes. genes may provide vulnerability. you need an environmental toxin. something is poisoning the american people. changing food supply. the switch to highly chemical intensive process foods. we have 10,000 ingredients in our country, in our foods. the europeans have only 400. if you buy mcdonald's french fries in our country, there is 11 credence, my understanding. in europe, there's only three.

if you buy froot loops in our country, they are loaded with food dyes. many other gradients. the same company makes the same product with different ingredients in canada and europe. we do not have good science on all of these things. it is deliberate. that is a deliberate choice not to study the things that truly making us sick, that are not only contribute into chronic disease, but mortality from infectious disease. we need to get a handle on this. if we don't, it is an existential threat. our country is not going to be destroyed because we get the marginal tax rate wrong, or because we get one of these culture war issues that we have been talking about today wrong. it's going to be destroyed if we continue down this trajectory of chronic disease. we need to fix our food supply, and that's number one.

>> thank you, mr. kennedy. certainly, i share your concern with all due process things. on the other enzymatic of the food chain -- farmers and ranchers back home. please take a second to share your compassion, how you feel about farmers and ranchers, that they respond to the market. they don't dictate the market: they grow with the market wants them to grow. >> this senator told me the other day that his brother-in-law's are all farmers. he said four out of every five of his brother-in-law's have parkinson's disease. that kind of cluster that we are seeing across a farm of cancers, autoimmune diseases, obesity, et cetera. we can now not export american food to europe. the europeans won't take our food. that's not good for farmers. there are also destroying our soil because some of the

chemicals farmers use destroyed the microbiome. that caused the erosion of the soil. you cannot get this fluctuation. water pools up and it waters the soil off. economists estimate that if we continue doing these processes, only 60 harvests left for our soil is gone. farmers are using seeds and chemicals that are, over the long term, costing them and us -- what we need to do is support the farmers. we need at the farmers as partners if we are going to make it work. i don't want a single farmer to go out of business under our watch. i don't regulate -- if i'm privileged to be confirmed, i won't regulate farms. that's under usda, but i want to

partner with all of my decisions with usda and with the farm community to make sure that we don't lose more farmers in this country, but that we also transition, we offer and incentivize transitions to regenerative agriculture, to no tail of agriculture, and less chemically intensive -- and by the way, i have also met with the chemical industry and the fertilizer and herbicide companies. they want to do the same thing. i think we are on the trajectory to do that, and we need to incentivize initiatives to accelerate that trajectory. >> mr. chairman, if i could, the great news is that my farmers in kansas are selling products to europe, that today's regenerative practices -- soil, health -- all those are priorities for kansas farmers.

many of us are doing many of those things are ready. we just needed to be more widespread. if i could just wrap up my remarks, going back to the big picture. 60% of americans have a chronic disease. mr. kennedy, i believe that you are not just 1 of 300000000 people: i think you are the person to lead hhs to make america healthy again, that god has a divine purpose for you, and i look forward to your confirmation to work with you to make america healthy again. >> thank you, senator. [applause] >> senator. >> thank you, chairman, and -- it's great to be here. mr. kennedy, welcome to you and your family. thank you for meeting with me a few days ago. i would like to follow-up, if i might, with some of the issues that we discussed in my office. i want to talk to you first about the cdc.

or, the centers for disease control and prevention. i am proud of the work that the cdc does, proud that it is located in georgia with more than 10,000 employees. if confirmed, you would be the cabinet secretary over the cdc, representing hhs, about 29% of the federal budget. cdc is part of that. do you agree that the cdc's work is critical to georgia, critical for our country, and the health of the entire world? >> yes, senator. >> senator isakson, my republican predecessor, would have agree with that. bless his memory. he was a fierce advocate for the cdc, as am i. the cdc is an agency filled with hardworking, dedicated public health servants. they wake up every single day

working to keep us safe. i don't think we think often enough about their work. it is easy not to celebrate folks who are protecting you from that which doesn't appear because of the works they are doing. grateful for the work that the cdc employees do. some are members of my church. i saw that commitment firsthand when i visited the cdc just last summer. mr. kennedy, you have compared the cdc's work to nazi death camps. you have compared it to sexual abusers in the catholic church. you have also said that many of them belong -- this is a direct quote. "many of them belong in jail." for me, those are disturbing characterizations of the cdc workers i know who are trying to keep the american public safe every single day, as you are presenting us the nominee for

this position. do you stand by the statements you made in the past, or do you retract those previous statements? >> senator, i don't believe i ever compare the cdc to nazi death camps. i support the cdc. my job is -- not to dismantle or harm the cdc. my job is -- if i'm privileged to be confirmed. >> so you retract those statements? >> i'm not retracting it. i never said it. >> i have a transcript. >> of me saying that it's a nazi death camp? >> let me read your words. "the institution cdc and vaccine program is more important than the children it's supposed to protect. you know, it's the same reason we had a pedophile scandal in the catholic church: people were able to convince themselves that the institution of the church was more important than these little boys and girls who were

being raped." that's pretty provocative language. you said in another statement. "to me, this is like nazi death camp." let me finish, i'm just reading your words. what happened -- "what happened to these kids? one in 31 boys in these countries, their minds are being robbed from them. >> i was not comparing the cdc to nazi death camps. i was comparing the injury rate to other atrocities of our children. i would not compare the cdc to death camps to any nazi extent -- any statement i made like that, i don't agree with that. in 2003, the united states congress government oversight committee ended in over a year

investigation at the cdc, and used almost that same language. they said that the cdc, just one branch, the immunization safety office had put institutional self-interest and pharmaceutical profits ahead of the welfare and health of american children. that was a conclusion by congress. >> i'm asking you because you are the nominee for hhs. it sounds like you stand by those statements. >> senator, my objective is to support the cdc. there is nothing i'm going to do that's going to harm cdc. i want to make sure that our science is gold standard science, that it's free from -- that same government oversight investigation committee, that these panels within cdc -- i think 97% of the people on it

had conflicts. i don't believe that that's right. i think we need to end michael's conflicts and make sure that scientists are doing unobstructed science. >> i want to enter this statement into the record without objection. >> without objection. >> last week, the white house gagged hhs and the cdc, preventing them from communicating all important public health information to anyone, including our allies in the united states, global disease prevention. can you answer yes or no, do you agree with that action? >> i was not consulted on it, but that's pretty much standard operation procedure for incoming administration. >> so you agree with the action that gagged hhs and cdc from communicating important public health information? >> that directive major that no public health -- only nonessential travel and mass communications were temporarily

suspended, pending the confirmation of a new hhs secretary. this is standard operating procedure. >> i get it. i don't think what we have seen over the last several days is standard operation for a new administration. i think we are seeing some unprecedented actions, but you agree. last night, members of the cdc, along with other federal employees were actually invited to resign. these buyouts. i got text messages, and folks on a note -- that work for the cdc that do this important work who got that note. it's really important. my experience is that when you send out that kind of note, the folks who resign are the folks you least likely want to see resign. they've got other options. they are gifted folks. they have got a lot of expertise. they have options. a lot of them are doing this work because of their patriotism, their commitment.

do you agree with the buyouts that . >> i agree that the vast majority of the scientists and experts at the cdc who are patriots of government service. >> can you tell me yes or no. >> i don't think anybody is going to resign that wants to make america healthy again. >> okay. you agree with the buy-outs. in our meeting i asked you to confirm your support for the affordable care act. you also mentioned that you and president trump want to fix the aca by making premiums more affordable. can you answer me yes or no, as i don't have a lot of time, did you know that tax credits that help families afford health insurance and save georgia an average of $531 per month per person is set to expire at the end of the year, did you know that?

>> i do. >> we need to move on. >> do you support congress extending these tax credits so that americans can continue to afford healthcare? >> you know, congress has to make its own decisions about that. my instructions from president trump -- >> you say i'm running out of time but i'm having a lot of trouble getting the witness to answer yes or no to a yes or no question. >> you're almost at nine minutes, sir. >> i need an answer yes or no. >> yes or no? >> i'm not going to answer yes or no to a question that's not susceptible to a yes or no answer. >> we need to move on. >> the fact that you find it difficult to answer basic questions is deeply troubling for me as you present yourself as a nominee to run hhs. thank you. >> i've been in courts all over the country, and -- >> mr. chairman you told me i'm out of time